The Weirdest Orders Food Workers Have Ever Taken

Whether or not you've worked in the restaurant business, fast food or otherwise, you can probably imagine that customers come up with some interesting orders, be it strange substitutions on burgers, super-complicated coffee drinks, or odd pizza topping combinations. Maybe you even have some unique tastes yourself. Maybe you dip your french fries in your chocolate shake — that's weird, right? Not according to these food workers who took to Reddit and other online forums to share the craziest orders they've ever taken.

The stories these drive-thru workers, baristas, and restaurant staff tell do not disappoint, and it becomes abundantly clear that your french fry/chocolate shake habit is child's play compared to what they've witnessed. In fact, until you start incorporating beef into that shake, you're downright boring comparatively. So buckle your seat belts — these requests might make you scratch your head, or head for the nearest toilet, but either way, it's hard to believe anyone would purposely order these abominations. 

Savory and sweet is a classic food combination. Think pork chops and applesauce, chicken salad with grapes, balsamic vinegar and strawberries — the mashups might sound a little odd, but we all know that those ingredients eaten together are far more delicious than alone. It turns out though that not all sweet and savory combinations are winners, like this guy who made an unfortunate late-night substitution to his McDonald's cheeseburger.  

One Redditor explained the unique order, saying, "When I worked at McDonald's one late night this guy asked for a double cheeseburger but instead of the top and bottom bun he wanted two apple pies holding everything together."

Let's break this down: Yes, McDonald's apple pies are tasty. And yes, a Mickey D's double cheeseburger can satisfy a certain kind of craving. But together, in one bite? No. Just because apple works with pork does not mean apple also works with beef, cheese, ketchup, mustard, and pickles. Let's hope that "late night" was code for "drunk." That's the only way this makes sense.

Actress and one-time New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon made headlines in 2018 when her Zabar's bagel order went viral. The order? A bagel with lox, red onions, capers, tomato, and cream cheese. Sounds like a totally respectable bagel order, right? It is, until you get to the actual bagel: cinnamon-raisin. The masses were repulsed. 

But apparently, sweet bagels stuffed with seafood and savory ingredients isn't a new thing because before Nixon made the news, this Tim Hortons customer was making his not dissimilar bagel order. A former Tim Hortons employee explained on Reddit their customer's unique order, saying, "...a guy used to come in and order a tuna salad sandwich on a toasted until burnt blueberry bagel with honey mustard. He came in weekly for this sandwich."

There's a lot to unpack about this. Once you get past the — we'll call it interesting — ingredient combination, you still have to deal with the "toasted until burnt" bagel. Maybe the charred bread flavor masks the others?

Maybe sometimes you don't want your meal to tell you how to feel. Maybe you're just in a bad mood, and maybe you don't want your meal's packaging smiling back at you with each bite of cheeseburger. But if a child's meal in a cardboard box is what you desire, then darn it, do something about it. One fed up Mickey D's customer did just that.

A former McDonald's employee took to Reddit to explain the modified Happy Meal request they'd gotten from the customer, saying, "... this one guy kept asking for a sad meal. Not so happy. Light on the happy. He preferred it to be extra sad. I drew a sad face on his box and omitted the toy. In the toys place I jotted down a few sad words that are a cacophony to hear... phlegm, cornucopia, moist, larvae, fester, leech, potluck, and porridge. He seemed very pleased."

Who says fast food workers don't go above and beyond when it comes to customer satisfaction?

Go into any restaurant where a flat top grill is in operation and you'll typically see the cooks scrape it clean between orders. Otherwise, all those bits and pieces from the previous order mingle with yours, and sooner than later, since those bits and pieces have been on the grill for so long, they're burned to a crisp — and not in a good way. 

But this Redditor said that one customer actually requested those scraped off burned-to-a-crisp pieces go into his sandwich. "I worked at a sub shop in high school. There was a guy who would have you scrape the flat top grill off and put the burnt cheese and meat crust on his steak and cheese. That was a regular order. "

When other Redditors pointed out that the overcooked bits of meat and cheese can be the best part, the former sub shop worker clarified, "But imagine it burnt to a crunchy chip on the flat top after 6+ hours. It's not even flavor at that point, it's basically just texture." One sub, extra charcoal, coming up.

McDonald's obviously knows a thing or two about slinging burgers — the company has sold "billions and billions" of them, after all. But let's be honest — even the biggest fans of Mickey D's burgers have to admit that the fast food chain's patties can not accurately be described as "plump" or "juicy." They are decidedly thin, and even on their best day, a bit dry. Now imagine taking that thin, already cooked once, slightly dried out patty, and cooking it two more times. We're entering Big Mac jerky territory here, folks.

And yet, that's exactly what this Redditor said one of their customers requested, who apparently liked it so much he came back for more. "Former McDonald's employee. Had a guy come in twice a week and order a big mac but wanted both patties tripled cooked. The meat looked thinner than a slice of cheese and was burnt to s**t," they explained. Yum?

When it comes to burger orders, requests like "hold the onion" or "hold the pickles" are common, but "hold the entire burger"? That's one you don't hear very often... until now. 

One Redditor relayed a truly unbelievable story that just might take the cake when it comes to "craziest order." They explained, "My mate works at McDonalds. I got a call from him a while ago at like 11pm. He'd just finished serving a customer, and he said he had to tell someone. This customer had asked for a Bacon Double Cheeseburger or something, but without the bacon, the cheese, the relish, the burger, or the bread. My friend said '... so you don't want anything?' The guy replied, 'No, I want a Bacon Double Cheeseburger, but I don't want the bacon, the cheese, the relish, the burger, or the bread.' Apparently the guy was completely serious. My friend gave him an empty burger box, the guy paid full price for the burger, took the box and left the restaurant."

When you order a hot dog with everything on it, you probably expect the basics — ketchup, mustard, and maybe some relish. You probably do not expect a hot dog with 10 toppings, none of which are ketchup, mustard, or relish. But that's what this guy got, according to one food worker, and then proceeded to add not only the basics but a whole slew of other ingredients, too. 

The Redditor explained, "Guy ordered a hot dog with everything on it. Nobody ever means everything. Nobody, except for this guy. We gave him a footlong hot dog with lettuce, tomato, mayo, mushrooms, onions, peppers, bacon, American cheese, nacho cheese, and chili. He then took it and added ketchup, yellow and brown mustard, sweet relish, spicy relish, tomato and onion sauce, and sauerkraut. The whole thing was like $7-8 by itself, but he didn't need anything to go with it. He got this once a week for a whole summer a few years back."